The Falcoholic
The conclusion of the Falcons’ season felt reminiscent of how it ended in 2019. Although the start of 2025 was nowhere near as painful as it was with a 1-7 start in 2019, both seasons had stretches where the organizational outlook couldn’t look more grim. A team built to compete now either found ways to lose or lacked the spirit and cohesiveness to win when they were expected to. A coaching staff making frequent self-inflicted errors and being plagued by predictable offensive tendencies. A general manager who was too aggressive for his own good and mismanaged major free agent signings. The way both teams faltered felt eerily similar.
I wrote about how the dangers of the current Falcons team falling into similar patterns to that disoriented 2019 team last May. While Jeff Ulbrich worked wonders in doing a stellar job of reconstructing the defense, an inability to evolve offensively and underwhelming free agency, largely due to Kirk Cousins’ staggering contract, left the franchise practically where they were six years ago.
Impressive road victories over two of the three top NFC teams that season, against New Orleans and San Francisco, ultimately saved Dan Quinn and Thomas Dimitroff in a 6-2 finish. A remarkable upset win over the Rams highlighted a four-game winning streak to end the season. Unlike Quinn and Dimitroff, Raheem Morris and Terry Fontenot won’t be offered the opportunity to rectify their mistakes.
Many will point to Blank learning from 2019 in making this decision. No owner wants to make an in-season firing, as the Falcons did in 2020 following a 0-5 start. While players spoke highly of Morris, they held Quinn and Arthur Smith in a similar regard when they were let go. Words only hold so much weight when the franchise hasn’t made the playoffs since 2017. The Panthers winning the division leaves the Falcons with the Jets as the only teams not to make the playoffs since 2020.
The NFC South was there to be won, yet they were eliminated by early December. A strong late-season finish doesn’t hold more substance than inexplicable narrow defeats to division rivals, appalling blowout losses to mediocre teams, and bizarre personnel management at the wide receiver position. Morris and Fontenot made too many pivotal errors to retain the belief that they were going to be the people in power to get the franchise back on track.
As the losses accumulated in November, the mantra became “we got to find a way” from Morris. That carried over into December when the team managed to start winning games. Coaches will come up with mantras that often seem silly. The aim is to inspire confidence within the locker room in establishing a strong identity. There wasn’t much Morris did that instilled faith toward building a sustainable, successful culture. Team leaders like Jessie Bates were candid about how much they support him as a coach. Although it’s encouraging for players to...
